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AN ^ C ^ / 

ORATION, 

PRONOUNCED BEFORE 

THE WASHINGTON BENEVOLENT SOCIETY 
OF THE COUNTY OF HAMPSHIRE, 

ON THEIR FIRST ANNIVERSARY, 

1812. 

IN COMMEMORATION OF THE NATIVIT T 

O F 

jrAStilNGTQN. 

By ISAAC C. BATES, Esq. 



« O eternal King of men and angels, elevate our minds ! each 
low and partial passion thence dispel ! till this great truth in 
every heart be known, that none but those, who aid the public 
cause, can shield their country or themselves from chains." 

Leonioas. 



NOHTHAMPTON: 

PRINTED BY WILLIAM BUTLER. 



^»5- 



^..3 



1t> 



3^ 



AT a meeting of the Wafiilngton Benevolent Society of 
the County of Hampfhire, at Wafhington Hall in Northamp- 
ton, on the 25th Feb. 18 1 2. 

if^oTSD, That Wm. Edwards, A. Pomroy, J. H. Lyman* 
1*. Strong, and L. Hunt, Efqrs. be a committee, to prefent 
the thanks of the Society to I. C. BATES, Efq. for his Ora. 
tion, and requeft a copy for the prefs. 

S. HENSHAW, Secretary, 



ORATION. 



Gentlemen, 

X HE day, on which Wafhington was born, 
may well be confecrated to a remembrance of his virtues. 
To the dead, our cenfure and commendation are alike 
indiiFerent. The fleep of the tomb is never difturbed 
by the one, nor the darknefs, cheered by the other. Wc 
can hardly indulge the wifh, that the Saviour of his 
country, "after having fhaken off this mortal coil,*' 
fliould be permitted to review, or revifit it. " Sadnefs 
would dim a celeftial vifage," and, for once, if poffible, 
violate the blifs of Heaven. 

But to the living, a review of his life, policy, and mea- 
fures, whether as a citizen, a general, or a ftatefman, will 
furnifli approved lefTons of moral and pnWur-^l \n{hvuf\\on» 
Death has given the final fan6lion to the purity of his 
motives, the wildom of his precepts, and maxims of gov- 
ernment ; authority to his example ; and, with a fingle 
exception, has consummated a character, more pure and 
perfeft, than the records of prefent, or paft times can 
furnifh. 

Having aflumed the name of Wafhington, the propri- 
ety of celebrating the day, which gave him birth, be- 
comes manifeft. If our Independence deferves com- 
memoration as a national feflival, no lefs the nativity of 
him, who was chiefly inilrumental in achieving and eftab- 
lifliing it J him, whom Congrefs pronounced, "first 

IN WAR, FIRST IN PEACE, AND FIRST IN THE HEARTS 
OF HIS FELLOW CITIZENS." 

How foon we may lofe this privilege, or, may wsfh to 
blot out the recollection of what we bave been, in view 
of what v^e are ; how foon our right of felf-governnieiit 



may be ufurped ; our love of liberty extinguiflicd forev- 
er ; depends upon the intelligence, the virtue, the fpirit 
and firmnefs, of the American people. The deftiny of 
the lad: republic on the earth is flaked on the experiment 
now making : — A period too, when madnefs is the diftem- 
per of the age ; when the paflions feem to have found 
fome new aliment ; when the dread of ruin yields to the 
love of it, in full profpeft of the de{lru6lion, on which 
we are rufhing ; when Great-Britain, on the one hand, 
is lalhing the ocean with her trident ; and France, on the 
other, more than was ever fabled of Saturnian Jove with 
all his clouds and thunders, is blackening and beating 
down the world. Ye, who are the fources of power, and 
ultimately refponfible for the exercife of it, ftiake the 
palfy from your nerves. Travel not upon the verge of 
ruin, with eyes open and fenfes locked in profound flum- 
ber, when the next flep may end your equipoife, and— 
end you. Wait not for the returnlefs plunge to awaken 
you to the reality of your condition. Diffolve the talifman 
Vvhich ^inds yon in chains and fetters. Follow the dic- 
tates of reafon and truth, uninfluenced by prejudice, un- 
clouded by pafhon, unenthralled by the wiles, the feduc- 
iions and delujQons, whether of men in power, or in pur- 
fuit of it. More your country will not require ; lefs your 
patriotifm ought not to render. With this view, let us 
recur to the origin of our exiftence as a nation, and trace 
the progrefs of Wafliington, through times, more difficult 
and obftacles more embarrafling, than the prefent, with 
hijlory and fad and your own experience, for our guides. 
There are no evils, which you cannot remedy, and, if 
you will not, then it is, " you become your own word 
enemies." 

I pafs over the events of the Revolution, not as lefs 
intcrefting, but as lefs ufeful to our prefent purpofe. I 
pafs over the proceedings of Congrefs, under the old 
confederation, and a/k your attention to the fituation of 
the United States, in 1789, when Waihington was firft 



5 

inaugurated as Prelldent, after the adoption of the Fede- 
ral conftitution. 

The Union, which had been emphatically ftyled "a rope 
of fand" ever fince the conclufion of the war, and which 
was little elfe in 1789, was compofed of thirteen diflinct 
and fovereign ftates, two of which* had rejefted the con- 
ftitution, by a decided majority, and in all of which there 
■was a fyftematic and powerful oppofition to it, growing 
out of diitinft, local and conflicting interefts, and aided 
by the fufpicions, fears, prejudices and groundlefs appre- 
henfions of the times. For the purpofes of the revolu- 
tion, the paffions of the people had been inflamed to a 
high degree of enthufiafm ; their pride cheriihed ; their 
jealoufy excited ; their vanity flattered ; and, after the 
conclufion of the war, fo fatisfying to their hopes and 
gratifying to their ambition, it was not to be expeded 
that reafon would at once refume her empire, and the 
commotions of the public fubfide. The population of 
the country was a mafs of ungovernable paflion, ftrongly 
agitated by the uncertainty, the protrafted troubles, and 
inaufpicious occurrences of the day. Having thrown oflT 
the government of Great-Britain, the people were ill 
difpofed to fubmit to any other. No higher proof is re- 
quifite, than the unyielding refiftance, they made, to the 
adoption of the Federal confl:itution, in every part of the 
country ; a conftitution, the befl:, which the wit of man 
had devifed, or, the Lawgiver of the Univerfe permitted 
to be tendered to a free people, fecuring every eflfential 
right, and prefenting no obitacle to the attainment of the 
highefl poflfible political worth and happinefs. But fuch 
■was the infatuation of the day, that Wafliington himfelf, 
with more mortification, alarm and anguifli, than on any 
other occafion, exprefled his fear,t that, after all the blood 
and treafure, which had been expended, to accomplifli 
the obje£l: of the war, we fliould exhibit to the world, 

'* North Carolina and Rhode-Ifland. 
f See Wafhington's letters to general Knox, and colonels Lee 
and Humphreys, in 1787. 



6 

the mortifyinsf fpcfVacle of a people incapable of felf- 
government, and fhould plunge, headlong, into a revo- 
lution of anarchy, before we fliould learn to appreciate 
the bleffinqs and comforts of public tranquillity and order. 

Nor did the oppofition to the conititution ceafe with 
its adoption. While there is any excitement to defire, 
or, encouragement to hope, a cordial co-operation feldom 
fucceeds a determined oppofition. Defeat had fharpened 
refentment. The profpc£l of ultimate fuccefs ftimulated 
exertion. Many, whofe reputation, as ftatefmen, was 
pledged upon the event, labored, unceafmgly, to verify 
their predictions and juflify their fears. Many, who had 
yielded their affent, rather from neccffity than choice, 
remained indifferent and fuHen fpeCtalors. 

While the conftitution was thus infecurely fixed in the 
affeftions of the people, there were other features, in the 
national afpeft, ftill more alarming. The price of the 
revolution was due to the feveral dates and to individuals 
for their difburfements and fervices. The uncommon 
prelTure of the times, and long delay of payment, had 
rendered the public creditors impatient and clamorous. 
The infurre6i:ion, in this Commonwealth, which was on- 
Jy one expreffion of the general difcontent, is within the 
recoHe6lion of many. It was a period of violence and 
outrage ; of commotion and terror. No general fyftem 
of revenue had been adopted. No one of the vafl vari- 
ety of queflions, which grow out of the fifcal concerns of 
a nation, fettled. The amount of the public debt had 
not been afcertained ; and, whatever it might be, the 
refources to meet it, were to be drawn from a people 
impoveriflied, difcontented, hoftile to taxation and jeal- 
ous in the extreme, ready to refolve every thing into 
*' (-/« arbitrary and opprcjjive iinpofition.''* 

Without the lights of experience as guides, the gov- 
ernment was to be organized. — The forms of bufmefs, 
under the conftitution, to be fettled. — Judges to be com- 
miiTLoiicd.— A fjflera of laws, civil and financial, to be 



framed. — The irritation of the public, to be foothed. — » 
The inquietude filenced. — Ihe jarring intereds of the 
union to be harmonized. — The affections of the people 
to be won to the conftitution ; — with a congrefs com- 
pofed of every diverfity of charafter ; — many of the 
members felefted for their determined oppofition to the 
inftrument, by which they were convened, confulting lo- 
cal and individual interell and prejudice, rather than the 
general weah 

Our external relations were not more aufpicious. 
With France we had a treaty. But, flie was holb'le to 
the complete eftablifliment of our independence and en- 
larged fecurity of our national rights. The fame caufes, 
which had influenced her to afford aid to the colonies, 
after their revolt, flill influenced her to the attempt to 
monopolize their trade. She wiflied to humble her rivals 
to aggrandize herfelf ; to pluck the diamond from the 
houfe of Hanover, to plant it in the crown of the Bour- 
bons. And, when the event proved, that the U. States 
bad not reje£led one yoke, for the aiTumption of another, 
ihe commenced an intrigue with the Britiili miniflry, to 
defeat our claims to the fidieries. Kr. owing thefe fa£ts, 
you can fathom the depth of our gratitude to France, 
and appreciate the danger, to be apprehended from her 
cabinet. 

With England, we had only the treaty of peace, which, 
although formally ratified, had never been carried into 
full efFe£l:. Many queflions ftill remained to be fettled of 
great delicacy and difficulty. Negociation had proved 
fruitlefs, and a recurrence of the war was, not only deem- 
ed probable, but, by many enlightened flatefmen, una- 
voidable. The mutual irritation and difguff, and, efpe- 
cially, the wounded pride of G. Britain, feemcd, in ad- 
dition to the real difHculties of the cafe, to oppofe infur- 
mountable obftacles to a refloration of amity and peace. 
She had, indeed, abandoned the war, and a«5lual hoflility 
had ceafed, but, the lion remained furly and vras often 
on the point of returning to the combat. 



8 

With Portugal, we had no treaty ; nor with Algiers, 
Tunis, nor Fripoli. Our commerce was excluded from 
the Mediterranean, and was, every where, the prey of 
thofe piratical powers. 

With Spain, we had no treaty. Having denied the 
weflern people the navigation of the Miffifippi, flie had 
confirmed them in a belief, that their rights were aban- 
doned by the U. States, and, that their fafety and prof- 
perity depended on a union with Spain, or, the formation 
of a diftinft and independent empire, and had brought 
them to the brink of revolt and rebellion. 

The boundary lines upon the South, Wefl: and North, 
were flill unfettled ; fubjefls of difpute, which feemed 
infinite, both with G. Britain and Spain. And, while 
the weftern pofls were occupied by Britifh garrifons, the 
Indians, fo formidable to an infant and unprotefted coun- 
try, were, every where, inflamed with new fury and fe- 
rocity. There was not one tribe, but what was hoflile, 
waiting only for the fignal of attack. Indeed, all the 
civilized and favage world, feemed to murmur at the In- 
dependence we had achieved, and exult in the troubles, 
which fuccecded. 

Such, Gentlemen, was the fituation of the U. States, 
when Wafliington was firfl: eleded Prefident. I have 
given you but the outlines of the pi£lure. I leave it to 
your own knowledge and experience, to determine, with 
what a diverfity and confufion of (hade, it muft have been 
filled up. I need not undertake to imprefs you, with 
the dangers and diflficulties to be encountered, in fettling 
our difputes with foreign nations, and eflablifliing our 
commercial and political profperity, upon a folid and per- 
manent bafis ; of bringing order out of fuch intenial con- 
fufion, and combining the materials, of which the U. 
States were then conipofcd, into a well organized Re- 
public. It was a ftate of perplexed and " untried being,** 
from which a man might flirink without difgrace. But, 
covered with " clouds and darknefs," as it truly was. 



Wadiingtofl, again, committed himfelf to the fortunes of 
his country and became himfelf the inftrument which con- 
trolled them. I invite you to a contrail: of the fituation 
of the country at the commencement, with the fituation, 
at the clofe, of the Federal Adminillration. 

Our Union was confolidated. The Conflltution firm- 
ly eftablifiied, fupported by the intercft, and cheriftied 
by the aife^lions of a majority of the people. The na- 
tional debt, liquidated and funded. A fyftem of revenue, 
adequate to the exigency of the times, the payment of the 
intereli, and final redemption of the public debt, devifed, 
matured and adopted. A Judiciary, able and indepen- 
dent, organized. A code of laws, in conformity with 
the fpirit of our excellent Conflitution, framed and en- 
forced. 

A treaty with G. Britain, fettling every point of con- 
troverfy, which grew out of the war, and fubfequent ir- 
ritation, was negociated and ratified. A treaty with 
Spain, by which (he acceded to all our claims, concluded, 
A treaty with Algiers and Tripoli, efFefted. A treaty 
with France, fecuring our national rights, and recogniz- 
ing our national fovereignty, in its fulleft extent, made 
and confirmed. 

The boundary lines were defined and eftabliflied. The 
Indians, fatisfied, by Wayne, that peace was preferable 
to war, and, not only treaties, concluded with all the 
hoftile tribes, but a foundation laid for the future tran- 
quility of the frontiers, and, until the recent interrup- 
tion, the friendly difpofition of the natives. The Wef- 
tern Pods were furrendered to the U. States. The tem- 
ple of Janus was fiiut. A new fpring was given to en- 
terprife and induflry. The face of things, covered with 
renovated life and beauty. Our commerce, was extend- 
ed wherever the ocean rolls. Our national fpirit, high 
and unfubdued. Our honor, unfullied and unimpeached. 
Never did the American eagle mount on bolder wing, 
foaring to the heights, and bathing in the light, of na- 

3 



10 

tlonal glory. " Never,'* faid Wafhlngton to his lad Con* 
grefs, " did I meet you, when more than at the prefent, 
our affairs afforded jufl: caufe for mutual congratulation, 
and profound gratitude to the author of all good. How 
firm and how precious a foundation is hiid, for eftabh'fli- 
ing, accelerating and maturing, the profperity of our 
common Country !'* 

Such, Gentlemen, was the fituaticn of the U. States, 
attheclofe of this Federal administration; nor was it 
cffentially varied in i8or. I might, now, turn from 
what we have been, to what we arc, but I will not 
*' venture down the dark defcent." Fa6ts pronounce 
the bcft euloginm, and, the fevereft cenfure. They arc 
neither prejudiced, nor partial. They are truth itfelf. 
I leave you to the comparilon. 

Let it not, however, be faid, by way of apology, for 
one adminiflratlon, or, dctraflion from the credit of 
another, that the obfiacles, iiecejfarily originating, from 
owx foreign and domefiic relations, have caufcd our deteri- 
oration, or, been commenftirate with our decline. 

The belligerent decrees and orders were, as rigorous, 
in terms ; as hofble, in charaiTter ; as embarafling in op- 
eration, during the prefidency of Washington, as of 
M^-. Jcfferfon, or, his fucceffor. France had more pow- 
er, upon the ocean ; Great-Briiain, lefs. 

Wafhington had an Indian war to profecute, in the 
infancy of the csunlry, unprecedented for its obflinacy, 
duration and difader. 

He had an infurreciion to quell, in the heart of the 
union, which required the aid of 1 5,000 troops ; — aa 
infurredion, to refijl the pay?nent of a tax upon ixj-jifkey^ 
abetted by the gentleman placed at the head of the trca- 
fury, by Mr, fefferfon and Mr. Madfon, as a reward 
for his patriotifra, a cmnplimcni 10 " his fplendid financial 
talents ;*' and a manifellation of r<f/j5^^ for Wafhington, 
and, I may add, for the ^(f^?^^,^?^/^ ;w//x'^ citizens of the 
United States. But miferable, indeed, would be the lot 



11 

of humanity, if repentance was denied to mortals ! Pro- 
vidence fo overrules events, that the criminal often dif- 
clofes his own guilt, and, by bis own condufl^ pronounces 
judgment on himfelf. 

It will be recollected, alfo, that the year Wafliington 
was made Prefident, the French Revolution broke out ; 
a political phenomenon, at which fome gazed, with ad- 
miration, lome, with horror. The world was never 
more corabuflible, than at the time of this grand, novel, 
and deftru£l5ve, explofion. Such was the force and uni- 
verfality o^ the fliock, that it fecmed to disjoint and mif- 
place the moral and political fyflems of the world. While 
reafon was entranced, the fubordinate powers, faculties 
and paiTions, exuhingly, broke loofe, and rioted, in all the 
atrocities, horrors, reveries and wild dclufions, of frenzy, 
lunacy, and madnefs. The U. States, attached, as they 
were, from gratitude, to the French people, and, from 
principle, to the form of government, avowedly their 
object, entered, warmly and deeply, into their viewso 
Such was the afTinity of the two nations, that it feemed 
impoffible to prevent their rufliing together. The mere 
mention of the names of Genet and Fauchet^ will be a 
volume to my purpofe.* This revolution, in its origin 
and progrefs, environed the adminiftration, with more 
difficulties and dangers, and, indeed, the civilized world, 
than have exifted, either before, or, fince. 

If any thing further were neceifary, to a comparifon of 
the obftacles to be removed, and, difficulties, furmounted, 
I might remind you of the immenfe difparity, between 
the creation and organization of a Government, and, 
preftding over its deliberations afterwards ; — between the 
devife and eftahUJljnunt of a revenue, and difpofing of its 
proceeds ; — between earning, and, inheriting, a fortune. 

But, Gentlemen, by whom was this change efFe(5led, 
fo falutary to our Country, and aufpicious to our hopes ? 
— By the Federal Administration, againft a deter- 
mined and imceafing oppofition of the Anti-federal Partyj, 

* Marfliall'5 life of Wiifliiinston, vol. v.' p. 410, and onwari. 



12 

from the opening of the firft Congrefs, to the clofc of the 
lad ; — a party, ivhich derived tts original name, from an op- 
fofition to the Federal C§nJiitiition ; at all times, formida- 
ble from its numbers, and refpc^lable for its talents. You, 
who a£led in thofe times, know. I put it to your own 
experience. And you, who did not, I invite to the hif- 
tory of that era ; a page, luminous and prominent, in the 
hiftory of the world. 

Let it not be faid, that the minority participated, in the 
exalted merit of that adminiftration. Whence then, I 
afk, unanfwerably^ refulted their oppofttion to it / — I flate 
it as afa6l^ which ought to be indellibly regiftered, that^ 
the meafures of Wafhington*s Adminifiration, ivhich gave 
permanence and chara6ler to the government^ were, unceaf- 
ingly, oppofed, before their adoption, and the lonflant theme 
of invediive, afterwards ;* none more, than the system 
OF REVENUE, — the main artery of the body politic, 
which even the Vandal hand of this adminifiration dare 
not cut! — none more, than the British treaty, to 
which we owe more of our profperity, than I can re- 
count ; — none more, than the proclamation of neu- 
trality, to which we are indebted, that tue are not 
now fighting the battles of P'urope, as the allies of France, 
or, fwelling the confcription, as her vaffals. By none, 

* In a letter to Mr. Jefferfon, Wafliington thus writes, *• Un- 
til the laft year or two, I had no conception that parties would, 
or even could go the lengths I have been witnefs to ; nor did I 
believe, until lately, that it was within the bounds of probability, 
hardly within thofe of poffibility, that while I was ufing my ut- 
moft exertions to eftablifh a national character of our own, inde- 
pendent, as far as our obligations and juftice would permit, of 
every nation of the earth ; and wiftied by fleering a fl.cady coujfe, 
to preferve this country from the horrors of a defolating war, I 
fhould be accufed of being the enemy of one »ai:on and ftthjefl to the 
influence of another ; and to frcve it, that enry afl of my adminif- 
tration fhould be tortured and the gro/fefl: and moft infidious 
jnifreprefentations of them be made, by giving one fide only of a 
fubjeft. and that too, in fuch exaggerated and indecent terms as 
eould fcarcely be applied to a Nero — to a notorious default^ 
im— or, ETiN A COMMON PICK pocket." 

Bar.croft's Lift ofWofhington,f'. 479' 



13 

were tlicfe meafures and the Prefident himfelf, aj/hiled wit^ 
7iLore fatal effed^ than by Mr. Madison and Mr. Jef- 
ferson. The one, led the oppojition, in the Houfe of Rep^ 
refentatives, — The other abandoned his cabinet* While 
Secretary of State, the "National Gazette'* was edited 
from the office cf Mr. ^efferfon ;* " was the mirror of his 
views ;" — a paper, which Wafliington called, "an: 

OUTRAGE ON COMMON DECENCY; DIABOLICAL;**-— 

*' in as much, faid he,\ as it is meant, not only, to impede 
the meafures of the general government, but, more ef- 
pecially, to deftroy the confidence, which it is neceiTary 
the people ilioiild place (until they have unequivocal 
proof of demerit) in their public fervants, for in this light 
I confider myfelf, whilil I am an occupant of office, and, 
if they were to go further and call me their flave, dur- 
ing that period, I would not difpute the point with them. 
But in what will this abufe terminate !'* — The evidence 
cf thefe fads is on record. But, I would not prefs the 
point, were it not, that, among all the wonders of the 
times, the great e/i is, that thefe gentlemen and their ad- 
herents. Presidents of the U. States, after having 
denounced Washington as loft to the obligations of 
gratitude, and, abandoned to Britifli influence, fhould 
now affume the authority of his name, and, claim the alli- 
ance of his friendfljip. I hate the ferpent, that ftrangles 
the Lion, and, coils himfelf, within his carcafe. 

What it was patriotifm, in them, to do, will not be 
deemed olFenfive, in me, xofiate. The mantle of Wash- 
ington may cover them. He was, like the Sun, fliin- 
ing in his ftrength, diffipaiing, to an endlels remove, the 
mifts of prejudice and paffion. There was no fpot, on 
the broad difk of his private, and public life, to obfcure 
the luftre of the one, or, obftrnft the fliedding and efful- 
gent glories of the other. He fuffered no eclipfc. Nolh- 

* This paper was edited by Bache, one of Mr. Jefferfori's 
tlerks in the dt'partment ofjlate. Whether nu'tth, or 'without his ap- 
probation, the public and pofterity will determine. 

f See his letter to General Lee, then Governor of Virginia, 
•f the 2ift of Juh/, J 793. 



14 

in^ earthly, ever interpofed between him and his country. 
He was a patriot " full orbed/' brighttning the fphere, 
in which he moved ; — not fliining to bewilder anddelude ; 
but diffufmg light, and life, and fplendor ; clothing the 
Ccirth, with richer verdure, and awakening a univerfal 
carol, throughout the region, on which he rofe. " But 
THAT Sun has set." May nonight ofdarknefs, fucceed 
the remnant of his beams, which mark, with unrivalled 
luftre, the confines of the day, he clofed ! May no flood, 
quench the flame, which they muft kindle, in the bread, 

THAT WEARS THE BADGE OF WASHINGTON !* It is 

2i pledge, that you will coniccrate your life and powers, 
to the fervice of your country ; — that you will grapple 
to the foil, moiftened by the blood,^and endeared by the 
aflies of the dead. It is a pledge, that no private refent- 
ment, no fmiftcr view, no earthly confideration what- 
ever, fliall fliake your refolution, or, fwerve your pur- 
pofe ; — that you, our fathers, fliall follow, whither, 
duty and patriotifm fliall guide ; and, that, you. Young 
Men, (hall lead the way, " Although contention rife upon 
the clouds, mix heaven with earth, and roll the ruin on- 
ward:" — Bearing THE standard of Washingt 'N, 

AND THE BANNERS OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS DEAD, tliat 

your arm fliall be ftrong, in the day of battle ; — that you 
will defend your rights, from aggrefllon and violation ; 
your government, from alien influence and indignity ; that 
you will tranfmit to your children, unimpaired, the inheri- 
tance of a free confl:itution, a fober, fubftantial, pradlical, 
durable, liberty. It is a pledge, that you will praftife all 
the charities and virtues, which fweetcn life ; bind man to 
man, and, earth to Heaven ; — that you will mitigate the 
fufferings of adverfity ; illumine the cell of the humble 
poor, and, within your feveral fpheres, prevent all the evil, 
3jid, do all the good you can, with the means, which Pro- 
vidence has given you. Thefe, fellow citizens, are the du- 
ties, to which we fiand pledged. Let hirti, i\\2X.Jhrinks from 
them, avoid the obligation. Let him, that hates them, 
*uilify. the In/litution* 

* A badge worn by the members of the W. B. Society. 



15 

But, before the earth v/as cold, which the Spirit of 
Wafhington animated, his death was hailed as the " Ju- 
bilee of American freedom."* While the country was 
clad in mournint^, more deep, and univerfal, than ever 
fiirouded a people, furh was the triumph of party, the 
fhouts of exuhation mingled, with the general groan. — ■ 
Blot the record, from your annals, and let it not be cited, 
by future age?, as the mod fignal inftance, the world has 
furnifhed, of ingratitude and debafemcnt. But, it is writ- 
ten, in chara6lers, which the ever fiowing tide of falfehood, 
can, neither, bury^ nor, deface^ that, the prefent idols of 
the people, were the enemies of the life of the Saviour of 
his country ; the oppofers of his meafures ; the traducers 
of his motives ; th.c JJanderers of his well earned reputa- 
tion ; the triwnpbers at his death ! 

Thus, Gentlemen, having fliewn you the fruits of a 
Federal adrainiflration, ripened to full maturity, in a fca- 
fon. fo unfavourable, and, under circumftances, fo unpro- 
pitious, I fhall be escufed, if I exhibit, briefly, fome of 
the moft prominent features of their policy. 

Towards foreign nations, the maxim of Wafhington 
was, A liberal intercourfe ivith all ; alliances, with none^ 
It was in the fpirit of this rule, that all our commercial 
treaties were negociated, aud ihc proclamation of neutral' 
ity iffiied. 

Wafhington fuffered, no antipathies, nor attachments^ 
to influence him. He pra£lifed no Machiavelian arts ; 
no duplicity ; no overreaching. He purfued, no mungrel 
courfe of ambiguous policy. When our rights were vio- 
lated, reparation, or, war followed. The minifter, that 
oflfered him an indignity, did it, v/ith the certainty of re- 
call, or, dlfmifiion. Never, was he told, with impunity, 
that, " the U. States were without honor ; — without ju^ 
political viezvs ;** — " that, they had refufed to fight for 
honor ;" — " and muft fight for inter eft ;'*T-abufe, more 
foul, than a feudal baron, ever laviflied, upon ih^ flaves 
of his domain, or, the fcullions of his houfehold j — lan- 
* Vide note at the clofe. 



16 

guage, which, if any man fliould receive, would fink hiifl 
in the duft. Submiflion to infult, always, invites indig- 
nity. The world will leave you, at any point of degra- 
dation, to which, you fuffer yourfelves to be fpunied* 
A ere blujiering^ will not avail, in an age of iron. It is 
the ready refort of a coward. But, it renders him the 
more contemptible^ as it ihews his knowledge, of what he 
ought to do, and, his want of fpirit, to do it. 

Washington, never^ took the imperial robber, by 
the hand, and, threw open the doors of hofpitality, to his 
retinue, while he bore, about him, the fruits of rapine and 
plunder. The highwayman, who takes your purfe, ought 
to fiirrender it, as evidence of the fincerity of his profef- 
fion?, if he intend to be a fellow traveller, with pu, on the 
luay. 

Wafhington, by the entire neutrality of his fyflem, 

Jleadily purfued ; — by the open and manly good faith, and 

unbending fir mnefs, of his adminiflration ; — commanded 

the confidence and refpe6l of foreign nations, and what was 

more, — the respect of ourselves. 

It was not the charafter of that adminiflration, tofhrink 
from danger, nor, to abandon national rights, rather thaa 
defend them. Seven millions of people were, never, 
thruft into the jhell of a turtle, even, bifore they knew it, 
without permiffion, to obtrude i'^^*^, or, foot ; denied the 
ordinary privilege of paddling in the brouks, which run 
by their own doors. I^'ew-hngland was not buried in the 
earth, as the fulcrum, on which to poife the belligerents of 
Europe, from which, it will require half a century to 
emerge. The American hagle, did not feek an inglorious 
refuge, with the owl. Search and feizure, without oath, 
and without warrant, violating the primary rights of man, 
and outraging the lirft principles of civil liberty, as de- 
fined, and guaranteed, by our Stale, and Federal, confti- 
tutioDS, were not authorized, by public law. The face 
of the land was not covered, with the fpie.i, pimps, and 
panders, of the cuftoms, like fpiders, toads, and the 



plagues of Egypt. Meafures were never adopted of a 
charafteryo exti'aordi/iary^ as to xc(\\\irc fiich means to in- 
force them. So jufl and liberal was the fyftem of his 
policy, that the crime of fmuggling was fcarcely known. 
But riders and their rw^^rc-j-, always, give complexion to 
the charafter of the people. Ariftotle faid, centuries ago, 
" fuch as the heads of the community are, fuch mud the 
people at large fpeedily become." And Cicero faid, af- 
ter him, " whatever mifchiefrefults, from their crimes ^ 
flill greater, refults, from their example,'^ 

Wajhington, nei'er, facrijiced one feclion of the country ^ 
nor one clafs of men^ to another. He, never, rotted the 
Jhip of the merchant, nor the produce or the farmer , to 
ftart a fhuttle, or, build a fulling-milL He, never, for 
years J fufpended a great people, in doubt ; and left them. 
to ofc'dlate, between hope and fear, expectation and dif- 
appointment j a condition, utterly hoflile to any enlarged 
undertaking, and, death to enterprize and induftry. The 
merchant could, always, calculate his voyage ; \h^ farmer ^ 
.determine upon the courfe of his hufbandry* 

Wafhington placed his ^ary firfl: ; himfelf {ccondi. Was 
a tax necefjary ? — it was impofed. Was an array requU 
Jite? — it was imbodied. — But he never commifTioned 
troops, WITH ORDERS, not to provoke a battle ; and, in 
cafe ofreftftance, on no account to fight. The poor natives 
of the woods and his fellow citizens^ were not the only hu- 
man beings, who experienced his refentments, or, dreaded 
his power. — 'Not a meafure can be named, in which, the 
Federal adminiftraiion were influenced, by a reference 
to their place. In fettling great national quedions, in- 
volving the prefent and future profperity and being of the 
country, confiderations q^ popularity were never mingled, 
with rhe topicks of difcuflion. Never, did a difciple of 
Wafhington, rife in his place, and, upon a queftion of 
peace or war, alfign the hazard of popularity , as the con- 
trolling reafon for his vote. The man, who could fo far 
forget his refpovftbility, his duty and his homr^ as to raake 

3 



18 

tlic declaration, would have been contemned as a block- 
bead, or, branded as a traitor. The queflion, ivlth them, 
"was never what will augment, or, preferve, our popular- 
ity ? — but what do the hiterejl, the boiio)-, the permanent 
good of the country require ? And, having determined, 
they carried the meafure to cffeSlj without the hefitation 
of doubt, the wa'vering of uncertainty and the tremor 
of an a/pin leaf. Their popularity, they left to follow, 
in the " wake of noble deeds.*' Knowing, that the moft 
falutary and necelTary meafures, are, fometimcs, the moft 
unacceptable, as the bitterefl drug is often the mod 
medicinal, they difcharged their duty, with conjlancy 2XidL 
Jirmnefs ; uith vprightticfs "And independence. And, per- 
mit me to remark, that, whenever, our national councils 
fliall fubordinate the good of the country, io the afcendency 
and popularity of a party, your government will become, 
a government otfadion and opprejjion ; the minority will 
htzoxviZ Jlaves ; and, if there be truth in hiitory, the 
ilep to ruin, fhort and downward. 

Washington was a foe to be feared, a friend to be 
trufted. This was the charafter of his admlniftranon. 
He had no cabinet intrigue ; no language confidential and 
fyfficial. What htfcemcd to be, he always was. " There 
are no tricks, in plain and fimple faith.'* Edmund Ran- 
dolph once, to juflify himfelf and criminate Waftiington, 
as a Britifli partifan, demanded the fight of a confidential 
letter. Wafliington's reply fealed his lips in filence, and 
put him forever in the ftiade. " I have ordered, faid he, 
that you have the letter you allude to ; and you are at 
full liberty to publifli any and every private letter, 1 ever 
wrote you. Nay more, every ivord I ever uttered to, or, 
m your pref nee, i{ it will avail you aught in yourjuft- 
ification.'* This was to a man, who had been his y^t- 
torney 'General and Secretary of State, who had, there- 
fore, an opporcunity to know, and an intere/l to divulge, 
whatever might ttnd to criminate Wafhington, or, jufli- 
fy HIMSELF. 



19 

« Abafiied the Devil flood 
" And felt how awful goodnefs is, and faw 
** Virtue in her fhape how lovely ; faw and pined 
« His lofs." 

Wafliington's adminiflration was not like the weak 
and pufilanimous reign of James the firfl:, as characterized 
by the biographer of Bacon : — " A reign of embajies and 
negociations, 2\\kc fruit lefs and expenfive ; — a reign ofy^z- 
'vorites and proclamations, of idle amufement, childiJJj exper- 
iment and arbitrary impojition ; — the great tr-3. oi jiattery ^ 
oi projlitute adulation^ implicit fubmijfion^ and fervile hom- 
age^ James was a king without one princely quality ; — 
his horror of war conjiitutional and unconquerable ; but as 
pufdanimity will talk bigger, on forae occafions, than true 
'valor, on any, he meant to make hhnkli^ formidable, that 
the world might not difcover how much he was afraid.^* 

Wafhington was not profufe, in threats, but forward 
in execution j — not prodigal, in profellion, but liberal m 
fulfilment ; — not hajfiy, in refolution, but inflexible in his 
purpofe ; — not vijionary, in theory, but pradical in his 
meafures. The powers, with which he was inverted by 
the conftitution of the land, were never exercifed for the 
exclufi'ue benefit ^i friends ?LnA favorites, but, with religious- 
fidelity, for the good of the whole people, by whom they ' 
were delegated, and, to whom,— not to 3. portion only of 
whom, — he was refponfible. 

Thus, Gentlemen, as far as your patience would per- 
mit, on which I have prefamed, perhaps, too much, I 
have traced the progrefs of Wafliington, through an in- 
terefting portion of our hiftory. You have feen, in what 
il.ruation the United States were, at the commencement 
of the Federal Adminiflration ;— the obflacles, to be 
furmounted, from within, and from without; — the gene- 
ral features of their policy ; — and the ftate of the coun- 
try, at the clofe, when Mr. jfefferfon was elefted to the 
Prcfidency. I have not facrificed to forbearance, what I 
owe to truth. But, I am not confcious of having per- 
verted or difguifed a fa<5l, To conjure up the fiend of 



20 

party, has not been my objef^. It is foreign, as the cen- 
tre from the pole, to the noble purposes of our In- 
stitution. But, I have wifhed to prcfent to you 
" things truly^'' that they may produce that conviction, 
which truth always produces, upon a liberal^ difcerning^ 
cnndid mind. When was it ever heard, that tl good Gov- 
ernment^ loell adminijiered^ made a people poor^fpiritle/s^ 
and wretched! ! Or, that a good Government, ill admin-' 
i/isred, made them rich, prnfperous and happy ! It is im- 
poffible, that an able and faithful adrainiflration, fliould 
have a pernicious tendency, upon the great mafs of the 
people, while a weak 2Lndfaithlefs adminilfration, fliould 
raife them, to the higheft pinacle of national profperity. 
.The tendency of good, in the nature of things, is not to 
evil, nor of evil to good. When hiftory prefents you, 
with a man, like Peter the Great, building up an empire, 
are you to pronounce him the benefaclor, or, enemy of his 
Country ? A wife adminifiration is like the influence of 
the fun, the rain, unti the dew. Irs effe£ls are, every 
\N\\zxt,fcen and felt. It requires no refinement of per- 
ception, or, reafoning, to determine, whether, you arc 
f^'Wtdh'f -Ablajl of Iceland, ox, warmed by a meridian 
fun. " By tmeir fruits shall ye knov/ them.** 

Yet, Gentlemen, the Patriots who adminiftered the 
Government from 1789 to 1801, were monarchists ! 
—Traitors ! — Torils ! — the slaves of British 
influence! — the enemies of their country !— 
'I'his mod unnatural crime, was charged upon Wash- 
ington and his federal aflbciates then, as well as upon 
the greateft and humblefl: of his friends, now ; — a charge 
Weekly iflhing from the prefs, and hourly repeated, until 
the foul fickens with difguft, or, averts with indignation. 
— I put it to your confciences. Was Washington a 
*' Traitor ! — the enemy of his country !'* — Pardon me, 
thou immortal Spirit, that Hhould ^thequcflion! 
He ! — whofe noble body was breafled to the fliock of 
war J whom terror could not palfy j whom danger could 



21 

not alarm : He ! — 'who, in the darkcfl hour of dcfpond- 
cncy and death, bore, upon his own arm the fliield, that 
protected your wives and children^ your rights and privi" 
leges, and fecured a refuge, from the florms of Europe, 
to many who have vilijied his name : He ! — who, when 
he had redeemed your country, at the peril of his own 
blood, and, a fecond lime, redeemed it, nobly declined 
your render of remuneration for his fervices : — \\'as he, 
a traitor ! — the enemy of his country ! — He gave you 
all, — but his good name alid — you rcb him of that. 

Was Hamilton a Traitor i — You can tell me, — "His 
KEART WAS v/iTHoUT A COVERING.'* " Companion 
of Wafliington, in tlie front of war" he was the />//- 
hw, on which he laid his head, by night ; the hofom, on 
which he repofed, w'ith confidence, which never was be- 
trayed, with aileclion, which never was dirainiflied. Un- 
appalled by the approach of danger, unftiaken in the con- 
fiih, he was the guardian genius and confoling angel of his 
Chief. He was his Cabinet Minijler in peace. Great- 
ncfs was {o combined in his nature, that every field, was 
to him, alike the field of glory. There was no depth 
of thought, which he had not fathomed ; — do procefs of 
laborious relearcli, which he had not traced ; — no world 
of fcience, which he had not compaffed ;— no fphere of 
fancy, on which he was not mounted. — He was the target, 
at which the arrows of the oppofition were, inceffantly 
dire£led. But, like the diamond, he yielded to no im- 
preilion and became the more brilliant the more he was 
aifailed. Hamilton was neverthelefs mortal. Thet 
HATED AND THEY SLEW HIM. Qucnched is that orb, 
which filled, with " infufierable day,'* the labyrinth, 
vjhtrt envy, jealoufy, hatred, ?ind ambition v;/ ere plotting 
the ruin of his friend ; — cold that heart, which beat but 
for his countrys honor ; — nervelefs that arm, which 
could wield a nations deftiny ; — filent that tongue, whofc 
accents, were " propertied as all the tuned fpheres.**— 
Was this the man to be a traitor I — an enemy of the coun- 



22 

try, for which in youth he cafl: the die and put his lifg 
upon the cafl ! — He retired from office as from the field 
with the extorted fandion of his adverfaries to the purity 
of his couduft.* Such was his contempt of riches, that, 
with the exhaufllefs refources of his own mind, by which 
he might have gathered wealth as water, he died in pov- 
erty and left a family in want. Hamilton lived for his 
COUNTRY ; he might have lived, — to save it. 

Was Ames a tory ! — the Jlave of Britijh influence ! — 
As foon would the harp of Memnon refpond to a meteor 
of the night, as (he pure ?nindof Fisher Ames, to a fen- 
timent that was adverfe to the honor or interefl of his 
country. Having the whole compafs of hiflory, di{lin£l- 
ly, within his view and tracing and comparing the prog- 
rcfs of events with the nicefl difcrimination and accu- 
racy, he did, indeed, predift, that the current of the 
times, which is bearing us downward, would ere-long 
drift us beyond return. Such was his conviction of the 
faft, that it tortured him day and night. Yielding him 
every perfeftion, to which he was as much entitled as 
any mere man, it remains to be determined, whether he 
was not a prophet. The life of Mr. Ames was eminent- 
ly devoted to his country, llie lafl prayer of the dying 
patriot was, — not for himfelf, — not for the partner of his 
life, — not for the furrounding pledges of his love, — but 
'' Oh ! save my country !" — Is this the language of 
a tory ! — a Britijh agent ! — Thefe were the lafl words, 
that trembled on the eloquent tongue of him, who once, 
** in the height of his great argument^* " funk the furies 
on their iron beds'* and — rcfcucd his country from their 
grafp.f 

• Vide Mar. life Walh. vol. 5, p. 550. 

f His fpeech upon the bill, making appropriations to carry 
the Britifti treaty into efFe(ft. — 

" That fpace the Evil-one abftrafled ftood 

" From his own evil, and for the time remain'd 

« Stup\dly ^ood:* 



The gallant Knox !^ — the valiant Lincoln ! — the 
generous Sumner ! — the inflexible and learned Ells- 
worth ! — the living Pinckney, companion of Wash- 
ington in arms ! — Were these traitors / tories ! the 
Jlaves of Britijh influence ! and I might fwell the lift to em-, 
brace all the heroes and patriots of the revolution. Search 
through the circles of your acquaintance and defignatc 
the DISCIPLE OF Washington, whom you dare^ at the 
hazard of a reputation which is not bankrupt, pronounce 
a traitor ! — a monarchijl ! — a Britijh partifan ! — an ene- 
wy of his country ! — But in the general and relentlefs 
profcription, the veteran flatefman is reproached as " a 
rebel,** whofe locks have whitened in the fervice of his 
country : — Thcfonh ftigmatized as the defcendant of a 
tory, "^hok father was flain and fepulchred in the " tented 
field :" — The war-worn foldier is denounced as a foe to 
liberty, whofe body was furrowed and whofe linews were 
wrenched in the conjlid, by which it was won, and ma- 
ny an honeft citizen and generous youth, who, ftiould 
the crifis again require it, "would be the^r/? to plant 
themiclves in the breach between their country and its 
foes, the firfl^ to pcrifti ; the lajl to flirink. — But, by 
whom is this charge made ? — I forbear the enquiry, I 
will not put my country to the blulh by telling you ; — 
a charge, which the republican and eloquent Randolph 
fays, " ought to be treated with contempt within the walls 
of congrefs ; without — to receive the He dired.** 

Gentlemen, is every thing which encircles us a mere 
delufion ! — Were the greateft and beft men our country 
has produced, all 'villains, — traitors ! — Are our fenfes the 
mere organs of deception ! — Are the precepts and max- 
ims, which our fathers reverenced us divine, to pafs away 
like the vifions of a dream ! — If so, I can only fay with 
an illuftrious ftatefman, but with more truth than arro- 
gance, " that as I am the leaft I had rather be the lafl of 
THAT RACE OF MEN, than the firji of their fucceffors.*' 



24 

Note alluded to page 15. 

The day on which Wafhington retired from office, the follow- 
ing publication appeared in the Aurora. 

" Nonx) let thy fervant depart in peace for 7nine eyes have feen thy fal- 
'oalion" " was the pious ejaculation of a mm who beheld a flood 
of happinefs rulhing m on mankind. If ever there was a time 
that v/ould licence the reiteration of the exclamation, the time 
J>as now arrivd. for tlae man, who is the source of the mis- 
TORTUNEs OF OUR COUNTRY, is this day reduced to a level with 
his fellow citizens and is no longer poffe/Ted <f power to multiply 
evils on the United States. If ever there was a period of rejoic- 
ing this is the moment ! Every heart ought to beat high with 
exultation that the name of Wafiiington from this day ceafes to. 
j^ive currency to political iniquity and to legalize corruption This 
day (the 4TH March) ought to be a day of jubilee in the U. 
States." — Duane was honored with the confidence oi\Ax. Jeffer- 
son and a colonel' t commifjion in the army. 

Tom Paine, inhis infan\out\tl\x.x to Washington writes thus : 
•" I declare myfelf oppofed to almoft the whole of your adminif- 
tration, for I know it to have been deceitful if not even perfidious. 
And as to you, fir, treacherous in private friendihip and a hypo- 
•■rite in public life, tlie ■'"'orld will be puzzled to decide, whether 
you '..;c . i.jj(jiute fir an imp fic^ .' whether you have abandoned 
goodprtm'-piis or whetiier you vver £.?.:' ■»;'•■' — F^'^ae was invlred 
to return to the U. States by Mr. Jefferson in 2i nattona! jotp 
*• to continue his ufeful labors and reap the reward in the thankful- 
tiefs of nations'^ I quote the 'wordi of Mr. Jefferfon, They net d 
BO comment ;— Par nobile fratrum ! 



W 73 





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